Helo goanimal and thank you for your question.
When you say "Original witches' brew" I am assuming you mean a potion
made by witches in the 15th/16th century. As opposed to some modern
day recipe for beer, (as an example). Am I correct?
Very best regards
THX1138

Clarification of Question by
goanimal-ga
on
01 Feb 2005 14:12 PST

Yes, that's right. I found some good recipes for alcoholic beverages
on the Net, but what I really want are the 15th/16th century formulas.
Cheers,
GoAnimal

Hello goanimal, thank you for your question and subsequent clarification.
First of all I should say, "DON`T TRY THESE AT HOME!" (but enjoy the reading!)
"WITCH'S BREW FOR CLAIRVOYANCE
Into a cauldron of boiling water, add a handful each of shredded
laurel leaves, cinquefoil, and mugwort (3 herbs that have long been
associated with the arts of divination and prophecy.) Cover with a
lid, and boil for 13 minutes. Lift the lid of the cauldron and deeply
inhale the vapors of the bubbling brew 3 times. Take a normal breath
of air, and then once again deeply inhale the vapors 3 times. Repeat
this for 3 minutes, and if you have allowed yourself to properly enter
a psychic state, you may begin to receive prophetic visions, either in
the form of pictures or symbols, or perhaps in a combination of the
two."
http://www.iamawitch.net/freepages/grimoire/
================================================================================
"The witches' brew was apparently to be used to hurt or kill people or
to mutilate cattle (de Givry, 83)"
http://skepdic.com/witches.html
================================================================================
"A number of written accounts are available which speak of the use of
Ointments or Unguents to enable a Witch to fly. They include; ''The
Book of the Sacred Magic of Abremelin The Mage', (1458), by Abraham
the Jew, and 'De Miraculis Rerum Naturalium', (1560) by Giovanni
Battista Porta, (both these texts are in the British Library however
access to them is restricted). In the account of Abraham the Jew, he
is provided an unguent by a young Witch that after rubbing on the
principal pulses of the feet and hands, created a sensation of flying.
Porta's account has a section which is entitled 'Laiarum Unguenta',
"Witches Unguents", in this he describes the recipe of flying
ointments.
An investigation of these accounts and the ceremonial ointments used
by Witches at their Sabbaths, reveal a number of plants which have
extreme physical and psychological effects when taken internally or
rubbed on the skin. Many of them are extremely poisonous and the
reports of their use by rubbing into specific areas of the body or all
over, demonstrates a recognition of the lethal properties of these
plants if taken internally.
The use of plants to promote a sense of flying, "out of body
experience" and the ability to convene with the Spiritual World, is a
recurrent theme in many ancient religious practices. The Shamans of
America and priests and priestesses of religions throughout the world
share the Witches use of specific plants to extend the normal
boundaries of human experience.
While there are a number of recipes for Flying ointments, there are
many difficulties in identifying the plants exactly. There was no
universal plant classification system during these times, many plants
share common names or are confused with others, finally the chances of
mistranslating from these ancient texts are high.
Despite these problems a number of plants were known to be associated
with Witches and even the common names of some plants provide a clue
to their uses. Certain plants occur regularly in recipes of Flying
Ointments and Witches Sabbath ointments. These include:
Deadly Nightshade. (Atropa Belladonna).
Monkshood. (Aconitum Napellus).
Henbane. (Hyoscyamus Niger).
Thornapple. (Datura stramonium).
Poplar.
Foxglove.
Poppy.
Cinquefoil.
Smallage.
Woody Nightshade.
Hemlock and Water Hemlock
Parsley.
Wild Celery. (Apium graveolens)."
"A more recent experiment was conducted on the night of the 30st
April, the Walpurgis Sabbath, 1992, by an individual known to this
writer, who we will call Richard, it was described as follows; The
unguent was rubbed on the pulse points of the hands and feet, after 5
minutes, a great feeling of tiredness and coldness overcame me and I
lay down, my breathing slowed and I began to feel a bit panicky that I
would die, however I convinced myself that if I did go into
respiratory collapse or heart failure the instructions I had left with
a friend who was attending me would enable him to provide artificial
respiration and call an ambulance. My understanding of time became
impossible so I could not decide how long my experiences lasted.
Eventually I stopped being fearful and my mind seemed to be becoming
detached from its normal state, there was still a feeling of coldness
then I seemed to be floating upwards. I found myself soaring above the
rooftops of London and my body was no longer human it had become
amorphous like a giant squid, with its tentacles streaming behind it.
With a little concentration I could change my body into virtually any
shape I so desired. I seemed to be heading West and eventually came to
a hillside, there I met a number of other people who informed me that
the meeting place was not on this world but in the stars.
I immediately shot into the sky towards a very bright star, I was not
alone and as I flew towards the star many others were with me, our
bodies seemed to melt into each other and I remember intense
sensations of pleasure running up and down my body, which at the same
time was not my body but everyones, it's difficult to describe.
Eventually I came to an enormous hall and walked upon its cold floor
towards a flight of steps, either side of the hall were enormous
pillars that stretched up so high I could not see a ceiling. As I came
to the top of the steps I saw a hooded figure of a woman, she looked
at me though her face was hidden by the hood. I suddenly felt an
incredible sensation of power emanating from the woman and I became
very frightened. The woman began to remove her hood and through fear I
averted my gaze, a voice in my head told me to look up, I did and the
face of the woman shone so brightly it hurt, not just my eyes but my
whole body. I then remember a sensation of falling and cannot remember
anything else."
http://www.pathwalkers.net/herbs/witchcraft_herbal_lore_fly.html
================================================================================
From Macbeth written by W.Shakespeare in 1605
"William Shakespeare (1564-1616), whose name was perhaps a pseudonym
of Francis Bacon's, demonstrated in his dramas that he not only had a
good knowledge of medicinal plants, witches herbs, and poisonous
plants, but was also familiar with the ancient art of invocation
(Tabor, 1970)."
"Ingredients of the Witches Brew
The three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth, who fell under the
protection of Hecate, prepared a "charmed cauldron" whose ingredients
are precisely listed (act 4, scene1). In the kettle, which is
surrounded by elf spirits, the first witch placed the first
ingredient, a toad. (129) The second witch added more ingredients :
Fillet of a fenny snake
In the cauldron boil and bake :
Eye of newt, and toe of frog,
Wool of bat, and tongue of dog,
Adder's fork, and blind-worm's sting,
Lizard's leg, and howlet's wing *
The third witch had even more to offer :
Scale of dragon, tooth of wolf,
Witches' mummy, maw and gulf
Of the ravined salt-sea shark,
Root of the hemlock, digged i'th' dark;
Liver of blaspheming Jew,
Gall of goat, and slips of yew,
Slivered in the moon's eclipse;
Nose of Turk, and Tartar's lips,
Finger of birth-strangled babe,
Ditch-delivered by a drab,
Make the gruel thick and slab,
For the finale, Pavian's blood is added. Unfortunately, Shakespeare
does not reveal how the witches' gruel is used.
In this recipe two plants are named directly henbane (Hyoscyamus
niger)130 and poison hemlock (Conium maculatum, Cicuta virosa ). The
other ingredients seem to be parts of animals, but these designations
were probably secret or ritual names of plants.The rat's blood is
called 'slips of yew,' and wolf's teeth is a folk name for ergot
(Golowin,1973: 42). The author, who dabbled in herbalism and alchemy,
probably did not write down a general recipe for the witches' potion,
but preserved for eternity a preparation of ingredients whose names
were kept secret (cf. Tabor,190). These plants belong to the
pharmacologically active ingredients of the witches' drink."
http://www.sirbacon.org/witchcraftmacbeth.htm
================================================================================
A great book for you is:
"Magick Potions: How to Prepare and Use Homemade Incense, Oils,
Aphordisacs, and Much More"
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0806519827/002-7972903-9260844
================================================================================
"Bile
Although Shakespeare's Macbeth includes "gall of goat" in the witches'
brew, the use of animal matter in herbal recipes was unusual. Bile,
however, was often mixed with fat in the preparation of ointments to
aid the emulsification and absorption of ingredients, and it might
have been included in dwale for the same reason.3"
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/319/7225/1623
================================================================================
Thank you for your question, and if you need any clarification of my
answer, do not hesitate to ask before rating my answer.
Very best regards,
THX1138
Search strategy included:
witches brew mandrake recipe
://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&as_qdr=all&q=witches+brew+mandrake+recipe&btnG=Search

Hello again goanimal,
Just a note to say thank you for the five star rating and generous tip!
Very best regards
THX1138

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